UofL All-Rod Team

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of weeks, you have at least heard something about Kevin Ware's terrible injury during the University of Louisville Men's basketball game vs Duke Sunday evening.  I have no intention of writing yet another news recap of what happened as it shouldn't be at all hard for you to find information about it if you have somehow managed to avoid the russdiculous amounts that have been written about the game and the incident thus far.  Suffice it to say that Kevin Ware is up and about on crutches and his prognosis is good after having his tibia re-set and secured with a titanium rod.

I decided, though, that since Kevin Ware is now sporting a nice titanium rod in his leg, its about time to name the first very-unlikely-to-be-annual UofL All-Sports All-Rod team, and seeing as how it doesn't look like anyone else is going to do it, I guess the responsibility falls to me.

First off, because I'm naming the team, that means I get to make up the rules as I go along, and to help you get into the spirit of the thing, I'm going to name a team-member emeritus.  Because, really, if you come up with an idea like this and you can include someone like this, why wouldn't you?

The team-member emeritus of the UofL All-Sports All-Rod team is University of Louisville and NBA basketball great, Rodney McCray.  ("Rod"ney...get it?)

Now for the current UofL student athletes on my All-Rod team.

The fifth spot on the All-Rod team goes to Red-shirt Freshman football player, Jarrod Barnes.

The fourth spot on the All-Rod team goes to Sophomore football player, Gerod Holliman.

The third spot on the All-Rod team goes to the Junior Catcher for the UofL Softball team, Maggie Ruckenbrod.  While you're looking for the "rod" there, she probably just picked you off of second base.

The second spot on the All-Rod team goes to Junior Outside Hitter for the UofL Volleyball team, Emily Juhl.  In the off-season between the 2011 and 2012 volleyball seasons, Emily underwent surgery to have a titanium rod inserted in her tibia to strengthen it and help recover from stress fractures which she tolerated and played through in the 2011 season.  Stress fractures in the tibia can contribute to the sort of injury suffered by Kevin Ware, so Emily chose to proactively address the problem before suffering the sort of injury we saw Sunday evening.

The first spot on the All-Rod team goes, of course, to the Sophomore Guard on the UofL Men's Basketball Team, Kevin Ware.

So there you have it, the first University of Louisville All-Sports All-Rod team.  I wonder if I could arrange a sponsorship from the National Street Rod Association, since they host their national competition every year here in Louisville.



In all seriousness, I do wish the best for Kevin Ware in his recovery.  I know he has the support of the University of Louisville Athletic Department, and the broader communities of UofL, the city of Louisville, and all basketball fans everywhere.

Emily Juhl will be playing her Senior year of eligibility for Volleyball in the fall, and I'm looking forward to seeing another year of her booming jump-serve and blocking and hitting far bigger than her 5'10" height would suggest she's capable of.

Maggie Ruckenbrod and the 11th ranked (10th RPI) Softball team are playing extremely well, mostly rolling through conference play and racking up many W's.

And, of course, the UofL Football team will be back in action in the fall and is primed for another fantastic season.

Go Cards.